Download the Planning Your Tax Study Brochure

Master of Taxation (MTax) & Graduate Diploma in Taxation (GradDipTax)

The Sydney Law School’s Taxation program is one of the world’s most respected and established. Since its inception, the Law School’s taxation staff members have acquired the best record in Australia for attracting competitive research grants as well as crafting a curriculum that meets professional requirements at a national and international level. The program is delivered in a variety of formats with tax professionals from Australia’s leading ranks and visiting professors, among the foremost international tax scholars in the world, sharing the teaching load with staff. Whether utilised to expand and enhance existing skills or to confront the challenges of international taxation, this program is equipped to meet a variety of academic and specialist needs.

The Taxation Program prepares graduates for work as professionals in the fields of private taxation practice, tax practice in commerce and industry, tax administration and tax policy analysis. It does this by equipping graduates with skills and knowledge to recognise, evaluate and advise on the legal, ethical and policy issues affecting the design of, compliance with, and administration of, taxation systems. The program analyses both direct and indirect taxes, and includes domestic and international aspects. The foundational units in the tax curriculum cover legal issues arising from the design and implementation of the direct and indirect tax base. The elective curriculum elaborates the core curriculum by allowing specialisation in tax policy and analysis, indirect taxation, corporate and group taxation, personal and family taxation, international and comparative taxation, and tax administration.

The Master of Taxation (MTax) is a specialist qualification in Australian tax law. The degree is designed to meet the needs of those in the Australian tax profession, whether as lawyers, accountants, public administrators or academics, who wish to build on their experience and attain a high level of specialist tax expertise.

The Graduate Diploma in Taxation (GradDipTax) is a specialist qualification in tax law. It is intended for students who are unable, or do not wish, to commit to undertaking a master's program. The diploma can be upgraded to a Master's program with Faculty consent provided the diploma is successfully completed at the requisite level of performance to qualify for admission to the degree. This must be done before the diploma is awarded.

Applications are still open. However, some units may have restricted class size and compulsory units may run early in the semester. It is strongly recommended that applicants submit their application on time to avoid disappointment. Please contact the Postgraduate Team for further details.

Graduate Diploma in Taxation (GradDipTax)

Program Co-ordinator

Student Administration Enquiries

Admission requirements

An undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline such as business, commerce, economics, taxation or law.

Program structure

The master's degree requires the completion of 48 credit points of coursework. The Graduate Diploma requires the completion of 24 credit points of coursework. Each subject is equivalent to six credit points.

Attendance pattern

Each unit of study entails 26 contact hours. Units are offered on a semester length basis or intensive basis. Semester length units are taught once a week over 13 weeks on either a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evening between 6pm and 8pm. Intensive units of study condense the 26 hours over a period of four to five days. The units are then taught between 9am and 5pm over a block period. For example, an intensive unit may be taught two consecutive days one week and then two consecutive days in a fortnight's time.

Duration

COURSE

ATTENDANCE

CREDIT POINTS (CP) PER SEMESTER

MAXIMUM (from first enrolment)

Master's Coursework

FULL-TIME

18-24 CP

6 YEARS*

PART-TIME

max 12 CP

6 YEARS*

Graduate diploma

FULL-TIME

18-24 CP

3 YEARS*

PART-TIME

max 12 CP

3 YEARS*

*Periods of suspension, exclusion or lapsed candidature will be added to the maximum completion times except that no completion time will exceed 10 years from first enrolment. Credit will not be granted for previous studies older than 10 years at the time of first enrolment. If a student is admitted with credit, the Faculty will determine a reduced time limit for completion of the award course.

Planning your tax studies

We recommend that candidates consider beginning their studies in the Sydney Tax Program with LAWS6825 Introduction to Australian Business Tax. This unit is designed to equip candidates with the necessary knowledge and skills to achieve their full potential in the specialised tax units. Candidates with existing exposure to current tax issues – for example, from working in tax or having completed undergraduate tax study in Australia in the last five years – are eligible to enrol in Introduction to Australian Business Tax to reinforce their existing knowledge and skills, but may decide to dispense with this unit. If you have any questions, please contact the Tax Program Co-ordinator.

Units of study

Please note: some units of study may have pre-requisite requirements or prohibition guidelines and may not be available to those without a law degree. Please check with the Sydney Law School directly if in doubt.

Staff

Members of the tax faculty are regularly invited to teach or give seminars at leading overseas universities, and to act as consultanst in the private sector and to government and international organisations. The tax faculty also includes part-time lecturers drawn from the ranks of leading tax professionals in Australia.and benefits from the foremost international tax scholars teaching as visitors.

Information on individual staff, their research interests and publications, may also be obtained from Our People section of the website.